Complete Cooling Newb, need your help!

[tnecniv]

Okay, so I just built my very first computer. Everything is fine and dandy but I'd like to get my temperatures a little lower. I am absolutely clueless about cooling, like push/pull, how to get air flow, intake/outtake, etc all that good stuff so take it easy on me!

Specs:

Fractal R3
i5-2500k
Gigabyte P67-UD3
EVGA GTX460 SC
8GB GSKILL
Corsair 520HX
CM Hyper 212+
Spinpoint F3
Crucial C300 128GB SSD
The only fans I have are the 2 stock ones that came with the case, and the one that came with the Hyper212+.

So, while playing WoW (pretty intense), my CPU temps are 49, 48, 45, 47. The third core is always the lowest temperature. I'm not sure if these temps are good or not, but I'd like to get my computer as cool as possible without sacrificing quietness. I have my computer right next to me on top of my desk and my computer warms up my room quite a bit.

What would you guys recommend I do to get my temperatures lower while keeping the noise level low?
I'm willing to spend around $100 to achieve this.

I may also look to upgrade my PSU, as its quite old and I think it is the loudest thing in my computer next to my GPU. But as of now my computer is pretty much silent unless I'm under full load while playing SC2 with WoW running in the background.

I'd like to know what fans I should get and how I should set them up in my case.
Any tips, ideas, and recommendations appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[BoomerD]

If your CPU maxes out in the 40's...you're golden. Unless it gets into the upper 60's or even the low 70's, I wouldn't sweat it a bit.

I have the previous generation i5-760, and under heavy load, the CPU runs in the low to mid 60's. (Intel burn test on maximum)

According to the Fractal website:
http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&prod=48

You have lots of options for adding fans to the case:

Cooling system
* Fan controller for 3 fans included
* 1 rear Fractal Design 120mm @ 1350rpm included
* 1 front Fractal Design 120mm @ 1350rpm included
* 1 front 120mm fan (optional)
* 1 bottom 120mm/140mm fan (optional)
* 1 side panel 120mm/140mm fan (optional)
* 2 top 120mm/140mm fan (optional)

Personally, I like a top-mount fan to help exhaust heat from the case as well as a fan in the side panel (door) to blow cooler air onto the GPU and CPU cooler. That's often just a matter of preference rather than necessity however...

 

[tnt3k]

did you OC your i5? cuz i get those temps with a h60 push pull playing Assassin's creed 3

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Removing case fans would reduce how quickly your room heats up, but your room will still heat up. Probably your best bet at reducing heat is to replace the PSU with a cool running high efficiency unit. Like this one. Pricey, but worth it.

Also if that 460 has an EE cooler, that would be the main culprit for heating up the room.

 

[tnecniv]

double post

 

[tnecniv]

I should mention that I'm gaming at 1920x1080 at max settings. I live in Texas it's really really hot here, and my roommate is an a$$hole and wants to keep the AC at 78 when I usually keep it at 69-70.

My OC settings seem to have disappeared, but I was able to get it to 4.5ghz and my temps would only go up 8-9 degrees. But here are my temps through RealTemp/Prime95 on stock settings.

Patrick Wolf, are there any comparable PSUs at a cheaper price? Also, I have the EVGA GTX460 SuperClocked EE, so I'm assuming it does have an EE cooler.

 

[BoomerD]

I should mention that I'm gaming at 1920x1080 at max settings. I live in Texas it's really really hot here, and my roommate is an a$$hole and wants to keep the AC at 78 when I usually keep it at 69-70.

My OC settings seem to have disappeared, but I was able to get it to 4.5ghz and my temps would only go up 8-9 degrees. But here are my temps through RealTemp/Prime95 on stock settings.

Patrick Wolf, are there any comparable PSUs at a cheaper price? Also, I have the EVGA GTX460 SuperClocked EE, so I'm assuming it does have an EE cooler.

Those temps aren't anything to be concerned with. As for the EE cooler on your video card, I also have that card, (or one of the variations of it) and don't have a problem with excess heat. The card will generate heat, no getting around it, the choice is whether you want the card to dump that heat directly into the room, or whether you want it to dump the heat into the case...which will heat up your other components...before your case fans exhaust it into the room...I'd rather have the heat NOT affect my other components.

 

[tnecniv]

Those temps aren't anything to be concerned with. As for the EE cooler on your video card, I also have that card, (or one of the variations of it) and don't have a problem with excess heat. The card will generate heat, no getting around it, the choice is whether you want the card to dump that heat directly into the room, or whether you want it to dump the heat into the case...which will heat up your other components...before your case fans exhaust it into the room...I'd rather have the heat NOT affect my other components.

Thanks for your input. So I guess I'm just being too picky/paranoid..

Do you guys think if I put my computer on the ground under my desk instead of on top of it I would get a little decrease in temperature and maybe it would heat up my room less? I'm pretty paranoid about putting my computer on the floor too but I think I would be okay since the R3 has feet.

 

[BoomerD]

Thanks for your input. So I guess I'm just being too picky/paranoid..

Do you guys think if I put my computer on the ground under my desk instead of on top of it I would get a little decrease in temperature and maybe it would heat up my room less? I'm pretty paranoid about putting my computer on the floor too but I think I would be okay since the R3 has feet.

My towers always sit on the floor. Other than picking up a bit more dust from the carpet, I don't see any problems with having it there.
I prefer "full tower" cases, and IMO, they're just too big to sit on a desktop...and it'd make it difficult to reach the optical drives and case ports.

 

[sm625]

Power supply is a big deal. if your tower is burning 300 watts at the wall socket, then your power supply is dissipating 3 watts for every percent loss of efficiency. If your power supply is only 80% efficient at 300 watts, then it is dissipating 60 watts. Use a space heater as an analogy. Running that power supply at that load for an hour is the same as a running a 1200 watt space heater for 3 minutes every hour. At 93% efficient you're only running that space heater for 1 minute every hour.

At idle, assuming your idle is about 60 watts at the wall socket, then a 70% efficient supply will be wasting almost 20 watts. It is hard to find a relatively inexpensive supply that can get you 90% efficiency at idle yet still be able to provide 300+ watts when needed.